Douglas Hadden, Pawtucket Times, August 30, 2006 Pawtucket - Members and supporters of the health care workers union at Memorial Hospital turned out some 200 strong for a sidewalk rally that was basically a show of strength ahead of a planned strike vote Friday. The two sides will meet at 5 PM today, as ordered by a federal mediator, in a last ditch attempt to settle on a new contract. If the talks fail and union members, who previously rejected the 294-bed hospital's self-described "final offer" by 80 percent, vote Friday to strike, workers will walk out as of 7 AM Saturday. ... Show

Douglas Hadden, Pawtucket Times, August 5, 2006 Pawtucket - As expected, a contract offer by Memorial Hospital was soundly rejected Friday by members of Local 5082 of the United Nurses & Allied Professionals, which represents 400 health care workers at the facility, the city's largest private employer. Union members voted 229, or 80 percent, to 58 to reject the offer made by management last week. Daylong talks Thursday had failed to bring further progress in the federally mediated talks. ... Hospital

Providence Journal, July 29, 2006 Pawtucket - Workers at Memorial Hospital of Rhode island took to the streets last week to protest contract proposals they said are hostile to employees and patients, including a measure that would make it easier for management to impose mandatory overtime. About 50 employees set up an informational picket line, carrying signs that said, among other things, "Memorial Hospital has no respect for the patient," and "Memorial Hospital has no respect for the tired." Christopher Callaci, a union field representative, said the pickets were part of a campaign that Local 5082 of the United Nurses & Allied Professional plans to encourage progress in contract talks. The union voted overwhelmingly Friday to authorize giving the hospital a 10-day strike notice if no progress is made in contract talks scheduled Aug.

Pawtucket Times, July 25, 2006 Pawtucket - Taking their case to the streets, scores of union health workers at Memorial Hospital staged a two-hour informational picket Monday along Prospect Street just downhill from the medical facility. The pickets, toting signs such as "Memorial Hospital has no respect for the tired," cited management contract proposals that would allow more forced overtime, disrupting their personal and family lives and compromising patient care. ... Nurses

A youngster pops into her office with a cut that he received while picking up glass. Another complains that his mouth hurts, and the nurse determines that he'll need to see a dentist about his swollen gum.

Later, she steps into Sandra Proulx's kindergarten class to follow up on the hand-washing exercise she taught them earlier as part of a class on how to stop the spread of germs. ... Top

At Westerly Hospital, both members of the CAT scan team have sustained virtually identical back injuries lifting patients, and been forced to take time out of work to recover. They’re not the only ones, either, according to Jan Salsich, president of the nurses’ union at the hospital.

With nurses lifting an estimated 1.8 tons per shift, Salsich said, and as the median age for nurses reaches the mid-40s and patients grow heavier, nurses and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) are increasingly at risk of hurting their backs and shoulders. ... Nurses

Woonsocket - By a count of 103 to 77, employees working in adult services for the Arc of Northern Rhode Island serving mentally challenged people voted a week ago to unionize and join the United Nurses and Allied Professionals, a representative announced. "I don’t think it’s any secret," said union representative Jack Callaci, "that because of funding to the group and pay rates people can’t make a living."

His union would represent 235 employees working with mentally challenged and developmentally disabled adults in this region at the Arc. ... Arc

Providence - A shortage of registered nurses and a backlog at state nursing schools in Rhode Island is being blamed, in part, on the lack of teachers.

Nursing school applicants generally wait at least three to four semesters to get in to the program at the Community College of Rhode Island, according to school spokeswoman Laura Hart, and the number of students on CCRI’s waiting list is 700 to 800 - though the figure likely is high, because applicants who no longer seek admission often leave their names on the list. ... State

Rhode Island Hospital nurses have finalized a two-year contract extension, during which they will receive an additional 12.5 percent in “across-the-board” raises, the nurses’ union announced last week.

The United Nurses & Allied Professionals (UNAP) said the contract extension - which was ratified Aug. 11 and runs through June 30, 2008 - also enhances hiring ranges, retention policies, and continuing education opportunities, according to the union.

“We are very pleased that we were able to make immediate improvements in the pay rates of all our members, as well as securing substantial future raises,” said Linda McDonald, RN, the union chapter president, in a prepared statement.

The agreement provides union members with immediate 1.5-percent pay increases retroactive to July 1. Also, up to three union members per week may receive 40 hours of paid time to serve as employee-to-management liaisons, the union said.

Providence - Sheri Boucher crafted the ideal schedule for herself: spending days with her three daughters, then heading in to Women & Infants Hospital at 3 PM to work until 11 as a registered nurse.

That schedule is becoming a distant dream as the hospital requires more of its nurses to work double shifts, Boucher said. She sometimes leaves work at 7 AM, rushing home after working 16 hours so her husband can leave for his job, which starts at 7. ... Nurses

The higher pay rates "make us competitive at the low end, and the highest in the state for people with 10 years or more on the job," United Nurses and Allied Professionals union president Linda McDonald said. ... Nurses

Providence - A union representing nurses and allied professionals at Rhode Island Hospital has signed a two-year contract extension that gives members a 12.5 percent pay increase.

The current contract of the United Nurses and Allied Professionals was scheduled to expire next summer. Negotiations for the extension, signed earlier this month, took six weeks, said Linda McDonald, president of the 1,900-member local. ... Nurses